Where are you listening?

Where are you listening?

I could also ask, how are you listening or what are you listening to, but I decided on where.

The act of listening has both an external and internal experience.

If you’re used to listening to the outer world… your senses likely turned toward your environment, taking in the worldly news, or often listening to the perspectives and advice of those around you.

On the other hand if you’re attuned to listening inward… you might find yourself caught in a stream of never-ending thought stirring and seeking to guide you this way or that way.

Yet, if you are accustomed to listening deeper within, into your body or heart, you’ll know here you have access to wisdom and real-time information with internal connection.

Our learned skills of listening come through lived experience of navigating the world around us.

If your outer world was loud, unstable, or overwhelming, you may have found yourself caught in trying to make it more comfortable by listening intensely to the needs of others or it might have caused you to retreat inward trying to drown in all out, closing yourself off to the world around you and possibly even yourself.

If your outer world was calm and nurturing, it would likely have supported you in engaging easily with it, but also feeling safe to explore the depths of your inner world.

Regardless of the world you have been navigating throughout your life, you have the power to learn to listen in the ways you actually need today.

Witnessing our experiences and honing our skills of listening, we come to understand and support our patterns of navigating experiences, which brings a powerful change to our entire life.

It’s a path of building self-awareness to notice… where we are listening, how we are listening, and what we are listening to, that takes us on a journey of self-empowerment and growth.

Yoga was the original catalyst that taught me to truly listen to my body, to sense and feel what is alive in the moment. Coupled with meditation I learned to listen to my thoughts, to notice where my mind goes and to work with my beliefs.

Whether on and off the mat, learning to listen by witnessing my experiences, reactions, and tendencies with compassionate curiosity has been transformational in helping me come into deeper listening and connection with myself.

I’m able to notice what I avoid, what I try to fix, what try to control, and what I hide from.

And with this awareness I can choose a new path.

What is your experience with listening? How are you navigating your external and internal worlds? Is it time to listen differently?

Join me on the mat to enhance your listening skills or allow me to support you one-on-one to explore more intimately what needs to be heard.

Take a pause and notice where you’re listening today.